This addendum provides responses to the vendor questions to the solicitation and services requested.

Transcription

1 STATE OF DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DIVISION OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE February 9, 2015 TO: ALL OFFERORS FROM: SUBJECT: ADDENDUM TO REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL CONTRACT NO. DOL15061-IVR INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE HOST ADDENDUM #1 This addendum provides responses to the vendor questions to the solicitation and services requested. What are the reasons behind this RFP being re-issued? Scope of work has been refined. In particular the following requirements have been changed or emphasized: o Must be able to provide a turnkey solution; provider must be able to provide the IVR platform and all assets or work related to application implementation, including scripting and voice recording. o Solution must be provided as an off-site or cloud solution. Solution will NOT be implemented within the State network or use State infrastructure. o Solution must provide a documented Application Programming Interface to allow for interoperability with third-party developed applications. This is intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. o Agency is seeking an IVR Platform as a Service with the supplying vendor capable of building applications, as needed, to Agency specifications. Effectively, IVR In A Box. o To further clarify, Agency is not seeking a solution targeted at running a call center, where calls are routed to agents or operators based on input. What is being sought is a platform targeted at application developers where collected data can be passed along to third-party applications for processing and, in some 1

2 cases, modified or new data be returned to the IVR for use within the application. The RFP states that there is no mandatory pre-bid meeting. Will there be an optional one? No, we will not be scheduling a pre-bid meeting. Very little detail on the current IVR functionality is provided. Are there any design documents (call flows, scripting, reporting, etc.) that can be provided in order to accurately scope out the system. Yes. Document included with responses. The RFP also states that there is some new functionality that is required and lists 3 examples. Is there any other additional functionality that should be considered a part of the RFP response? Solution must provide a documented Application Programming Interface to allow for interoperability with third-party developed applications. This is intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. It sounds like you are not currently handling Spanish callers with your current IVR solution. Of the approx. 15,000 calls / day you receive, how many of them are you servicing with Spanish speaking agents. Historical peak use was 15,000 calls per day during the height of Federal extensions of UI benefits. Day one (Sunday) call volume would be 15,000 and the volume would drop considerably after Tuesday. Less than 5% of customers would need the Spanish option. For speech-based applications, it is generally not recommended to deploy in multiple languages at the same time. Is there a willingness to deploy & tune the application in English first, and when everything is working properly, add the Spanish implementation? We agree with that approach. Is there any documentation about the APIs / web services needed to access DOL data? Programmatic access to the data would be new functionality intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. Data sharing in the current system is done via flat file, batch transfers between the existing IVR and the State mainframe. If the solution does not fully support VoiceXML 2.1 / CCXML 1.0, is that an automatic disqualifier? We implement fully conversational IVR solutions driven by our Artificial Intelligence platform and VoiceXML is not at all suited for that type of solution. A solution that is not fully compliant with these standards may be considered if in the best interest of the State. 2

3 Attachment 4 states, in part, Suppliers are required to provide a reply to each question listed below however no questions are presented. Can you provide the necessary questions for this section? The form is not applicable to this RFP. How many Toll Free numbers will be ported/resporged? ONE (1). How many DID numbers will be ported? Ninety Six (96). Any new Toll Free or DID s needed? How many inbound Toll Free calls per month are there? Is it seasonal? For the month of December, 2014 the total number of calls is: 23,670. We cannot distinguish between Toll Free and DID calls. No, this is not seasonal. How many inbound DID calls per month are there? For the month of December, 2014 the total number of calls is: 23,670. We cannot distinguish between Toll Free and DID calls. What is the average call length in the IVR? 5 7 minutes What is the transfer percentage out of the IVR? No transfers occur out of the IVR system. What is the call length to the call center rep? We do not have a call center. No calls to the required application will ever result in transfer to an operator or agent. How many different IVR applications are there? Agency currently has one existing application. Are there any flowcharts available for the IVR applications? Yes, included. On page 5, item II B: Are there any security requirements, given the requirement to record and store PII such as SSN? Yes. Awarded vendor will be required to adhere to all applicable State standards published at 3

4 Of particular importance is the Cloud and Offsite Hosting Policy and the corresponding Cloud and Offsite Hosting Template Non-Public, Do we need to develop the VXML application or are we reusing a current app? If so, can you provide us the call flow or document the number of dialog states (number of times you interact with the caller) and interaction states (number of times you interact with the host data)? Are you happy with the call flow or would you like to make improvements? Agency is seeking an IVR Platform as a Service with the supplying vendor capable of building applications, as needed, to Agency specifications. Effectively, IVR In A Box. Agency will be seeking rewrite, or work-alike, of our current application by the awarded vendor. Page 5, C media management modules can we get a definition of that? Ability to download any recorded/captured portions of the calls as digital media. Can we get a copy of the RFP in Word to make responding easier? Yes. Do we need to have the State of Delaware Business License before bidding or can we secure once we are selected as the successful vendor? It would be in our best interest for you to have the license at the time of bidding. Page 50 - #2 what does a Developers API for interface with the data at all times mean? Solution must provide a documented Application Programming Interface to allow for interoperability with third-party developed applications. This is intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. What percentage of the calls will require speech recognition? 100% What is the Average Handle time of the 15K calls? 7-9 minutes. How many hosts will we be interfacing to? All via one ingress/egress point? One (1). On page 51, item 8: What is meant by VoIP applications? What is meant by recording responses via PC or phone? Caller responses? Are you referring to WebRTC? Yes. On page 51, item 8: Web-based tools are common for administrative functions, but robust VUI development tools are typically client software (ie Eclipse-based tools). Is that acceptable? 4

5 Yes. On page 51, Versatility: What call center integration are you looking for? What vendors and versions of PBX/ACD, CTI, etc? We do not have a call center. No calls to the required application will ever result in transfer to an operator or agent. Existing solution is an isolated black-box with no relationship to the State s or Agency s office phone system. On page 51, Versatility: Can you elaborate on how you plan to use a TPV of FTC telesales requirements? At this time Agency does not utilize this functionality. Agency anticipates the possibility of other, yet unidentified, State agencies seeking to utilize the selected platform for their own application development and this requirement is a result of that anticipation. On page 51: Reliability: The last sentence is truncated ( standard response times to.. ). Would you please provide the omitted portion of the statement? service interruptions and outages. Should it be assumed that none of the existing hardware used for the existing IVR is usable for the new system? Yes. No existing hardware or infrastructure is re-usable. Is rewriting the current IVR applications into the new IVR part of the scope of the RFP (i.e. different languages, different development platforms, etc?) No, but Agency will be seeking rewrite, or work-alike, of the current application by the awarded vendor. The scoring of the proposals weights 15% for the implementation timeframe. Is there a specific implementation date that DOL is targeting? And are there any federal grant funding / timeframe requirements that are tied to this project for DOL? There is no specific target date for implementation, however we are looking to start no later than Q3 of There is no federal grant funding or timeframes tied to this project. Do you plan to have agents, who are transferring calls, use their existing phones, or can they use soft phones (i.e. PC based software for listening to calls)? We do not have agents or a call center at this time. Do you plan to utilize the existing State of Delaware or Dept. of Labor phone system/lines? Does the IVR need to reside within the Department s network (not physically, but via VPN)? 5

6 Alternatively, is it a requirement to NOT be part of the Department s internal network? Yes. It is not mentioned in the RFP, but is outbound campaign dialing required by DOL? In other words, is the outbound dialer in the scope of the RFP OR does DOL want the IVR to have the ability to dial out? At this time Agency does not utilize outbound campaigns. Agency anticipates the possibility of other, yet unidentified, State agencies seeking to utilize the selected platform for their own application development and this requirement is a result of that anticipation. On page 50 of the RFP, Scope of Work 2 requests a Developers API for interface with the data at all times. Is the State looking for a vendor to provide the API being used by the IVR for additional services (web, etc.)? Yes. Solution must provide a documented Application Programming Interface to allow for interoperability with third-party developed applications. This is intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. What data values does the state expect the vendor to expose through the API interface? Any data collected by the IVR applications. Examples of current data values include name, SSN, previous employer, work search information, earnings detail and return-towork. Do some 800 numbers go directly to voice self-service? Do some numbers go directly to an auto attendant feature or agent group? Currently there is ONE (1) 800 number in use. There is no auto attendant or agent group. No calls to the required application will ever result in transfer to an operator or agent. If Auto-Attendant, how are the calls triaged? N/A. If IVR; does the menu take them straight to self-service or will the IVR menu triage the calls first in order to see what calls need further IVR treatment and which calls need to go directly to an agent? The menu takes caller to self-service. How many ports are at each location? One location; 96 ports. How many calls arrive at the call center each month through self-service? No call center in use. How many calls route directly to or are diverted from an auto attendant to an IVR? 6

7 N/A. How many calls route directly to or are diverted from an auto attendant to an agent group? N/A. What percentage of callers or how many calls are terminated in the self-service application? Which transactions have the highest close ratio? Which transactions have the highest request rate for agent assisted services? 100% are terminated in the self-service application. Close ratio: N/A. Request rate: N/A. What is the number/percentage of those calls that zero out from an IVR menu? 0%. On average, how much time do customers spend in the IVR navigating the self-service menus? Is an ODBC database dip required? 5 7 minutes Data dip may be required. Any other backend integration required? If so, please explain Where does TTS get invoked in the IVR script? At this time TTS is not invoked. Agency anticipates the possibility of other, yet unidentified, State agencies seeking to utilize the selected platform for their own application development and this requirement is a result of that anticipation. Can you give an example of a TTS playback string? Not at this time. Are you open for Hosted Voice Platform or looking only on premises IVR platform? Solution must be provided as an off-site or cloud solution. Solution will NOT be implemented within the State network or use State infrastructure. For on premises solution - Do you need telephonic infrastructure also from the vendor? If not, please share the telephonic infrastructure (PBX & T1 lines etc.) to be made available for this IVR hosting. N/A Are you looking for IVR platform or IVR and contact center platform? IVR Platform. 7

8 Does your agent use any contact center platform today? Do you have call routing & agent screen pop up functionality today? Are you looking for the proposed IVR system to integrate with your contact center platform? If so, Please share the contact center technology details. No, to all points. Text to speech: We assume Text to speech support is needed only for English. Please confirm. Text to speech should be bi-lingual. Voice Input Please share various language support needed for voice input. English and Spanish. Please share number of simultaneous calls expected. (This will help to decide the number port licensing which will impact the costing). Historical Peak was 96 simultaneous calls. Distributed architecture requirement: Are you looking for multi-tenant voice platform with the ability to create sub tenant admin control to different department or do you want one system controlled by your department but the ability to run different department IVR applications. Please elaborate. We are looking for the multi-tenant voice platform with the ability to create sub-tenant administrative control to other departments. Agency anticipates the possibility of other, yet unidentified, State agencies seeking to utilize the selected platform for their own application development and this requirement is a result of that anticipation. We assume you are looking for English & Spanish supported IVR. Do you need Text to Speech & Speech input support also needed for both languages or this is needed only for English? Both English and Spanish. With regard to Technical Requirement #8: a. Can you provide further detail on this statement: employ changes via phone based inputs.? A typical example would be the ability to toggle announcements about office status (open, closed, delayed.) b. Are you looking for a standalone IDE that would allow you to build your applications inhouse? Not at this time. Non-availability would not be a criteria for exclusion. Solution will require a Developers API for interface with the data at all times. - Can you clarify what they mean by a developer s API and what data needs to be accessed? Solution must provide a documented Application Programming Interface to allow for interoperability with third-party developed applications. This is intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. 8

9 The solution must allow for administrative users to create/change voice applications without coding VoiceXML. The solution should be able to employ changes via web or phone based inputs. - To what degree do you want to be able to modify the applications via web/phone? A typical example would be the ability to toggle announcements about office status (open, closed, delayed.) Can you provide a current architecture diagram showing everything from the current media platform, application servers and databases, to the current telecom components (PBX, SBC, etc.)? Not available. Existing solution is an isolated black-box with no relationship to the State s or Agency s office phone system. Are web services in place today and available for public consumption? Security requirements: a. What are the security requirements for the system? Awarded vendor will be required to adhere to all applicable State standards published at Of particular importance is the Cloud and Offsite Hosting Policy and the corresponding Cloud and Offsite Hosting Template Non-Public, b. Anything special needed to secure SSNs, or is that just the unique identifier being used? SSN is the unique identifier being used. Awarded vendor will be required to adhere to all applicable State standards published at Of particular importance is the Cloud and Offsite Hosting Policy and the corresponding Cloud and Offsite Hosting Template Non-Public, Call volumes: a. How many calls per day do you receive? Historical peak use was 15,000 calls per day during the height of Federal extensions of UI benefits. Day one (Sunday) call volume would be 15,000 and the volume would drop considerably after Tuesday. For the month of December, 2014 the total number of calls is: 23,670. b. What is the average handle time of the IVR call? 5 7 minutes. c. What percentage of calls go to agents today? 9

10 None. d. What is the current cost per call to an agent? N/A. Will we be responsible for converting any of the existing applications? Agency is seeking an IVR Platform as a Service with the supplying vendor capable of building applications, as needed, to Agency specifications. Effectively, IVR In A Box. Agency will be seeking rewrite, or work-alike, of our current application by the awarded vendor. Does the State require a typical DOL-UI outbound notification campaign? Should any automated outbound calling campaigns have the ability to support SMS/Text and in addition to outbound voice? Should any automated outbound calling campaigns have the ability to transfer calls into queue after delivering a message? In addition to DOL-UI Claims Processing and Payment Status, does the State want the application to support change of address / phone number? Does the State require Claims calls to be recorded as well as using spoken inputs to update the DB in real time? Please explain the purpose of a Developer s API for interface with data. Is this for reporting purposes? Solution must provide a documented Application Programming Interface to allow for interoperability with third-party developed applications. This is intended for use by applications that may do data processing or call reporting. Is the name and address of the employer to be recorded and NOT recognized? Yes. Will the State be transcribing any of the caller information? Which data elements will be transcribed? Yes, such as work search information, earnings detail and return-to-work. 10

11 What retention period does the State wish to have for call statistics kept on the IVR system? How much space does the State wish to allocate for the storage of statistics? While Agency currently has only one application we anticipate the possibility of other, yet unidentified, State agencies seeking to utilize the selected platform for their own application development and, as a result, this requirement will vary. Versatility Can you describe the requirement intelligent call routing? Should intelligent routing be implemented on Day One? Applications must be capable of responding/routing based on factors other than caller input, e.g. Time of day, day of week, external flag set via data dip or external API call. What are the typical changes required to be made through administrative users? A typical example would be the ability to toggle announcements about office status (open, closed, delayed.) Attached as separate documents are addenda shall be considered part of the agency s solicitation. Those addenda are: Addendum #2 IVR System Requirements Addendum #3 IVR Visio-Dui call flow All other terms and conditions remain the same. 11